Bible Strands
Numbers 23:14
So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Balak relocates Balaam to a new high ground after a failed curse attempt, directing him to pronounce judgment from the outskirts of the Israelite camp.
The words — The Hebrew וַיִּקָּחֵהוּ (va-yiqaqehu) translates literally as "and he took him," while שְׂדֵה צֹפִים (sede Zophim) denotes the specific geographic location "field of Zophim."
The thread — The ritual setup recurs in Numbers 23:1 and Numbers 23:29, where Balaam repeatedly instructs Balak to construct seven altars with matching bull and ram sacrifices.
Why it lands — The text records Balak's repeated attempts to secure a curse through geographic positioning and sacrificial repetition, requiring the reader to note that ritual action is explicitly separated from the prophetic declaration that follows.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
Cross-references
- Numbers 21:20 and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.
- Numbers 23:1 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”
- Numbers 23:29 Then Balaam said, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”
- Deuteronomy 3:27 Go to the top of Pisgah and look to the west and north and south and east. See the land with your own eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan.
- Deuteronomy 4:49 including all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.
- Deuteronomy 34:1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead as far as Dan,
- Isaiah 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
- Isaiah 46:6 They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
- Hosea 12:11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.